1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of artificial lighting fixtures and more particularly relates to a series of housings for high intensity lamps assembled from interlocking housing elements.
2. State of the Prior Art
Artificial lighting technology has evolved towards electrical light sources of increasing intensity and smaller physical size. The familiar incandescent light bulb with a tungsten filament glowing in an evacuated bulb is increasingly giving way to lampbulbs containing pressurized noble gases which allow the filament to be operated at considerably higher intensity and greater light output than was previously possible to provide higher quality and more energy efficient illumination than provided by conventional tungsten bulbs. These high intensity light sources tend to generate considerable amounts of heat in spite of their improved efficiency because of their compact physical dimensions. The small size of these light sources encourages the use of small or miniature size housings and enclosures which cannot efficient dissipate the heat generated by the light source. These fixtures therefore normally operate at relatively high temperatures and are limited in the wattage of the lamp which can be safely used. This is particularly true of lamps which require a low voltage/high current step-down transformer which contributes to the thermal load imposed on the housing. One solution adopted in the industry has been to mount the transformer outside and away from the housing to minimize the heat build-up.
High intensity light source are particularly popular as so-called track lights where an electrical supply rail is affixed to a ceiling or other surface and one or more lamp fixtures are slidably supported on the rail and draw power from the rail's electrical conductors. It is desirable to make such lamp housings compact in size in the interest of minimizing weight and for esthetic considerations.
A continuing need exists for high intensity lamp housings capable of good heat dissipation and which are also of simple, economic, durable and esthetically pleasing construction.